


Always Be OK

by emmariley20



Series: A Transatlantic Tale [2]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/M, Romance, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:27:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27339418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emmariley20/pseuds/emmariley20
Summary: A fight has Derek wondering whether his and Emily's relationship can survive the ocean between them. Will a visit to London solve the problem?
Relationships: Derek Morgan/Emily Prentiss
Series: A Transatlantic Tale [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1996291
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	Always Be OK

**Author's Note:**

> I received a few requests to continue with my "Worth It" story line, so here is part two. I'd greatly appreciate feedback in the comments on whether you'd like to see more of these two. Enjoy!

The first time Derek visits Emily in London, he honestly isn't sure she'll want to see him. They haven't spoken in almost two days, since their last FaceTime call ended in their first, and rather intense, fight as a couple. Looking back on it, he sees she was right. Derek had been held hostage on a case for nearly a full day and since he wasn't injured, he decided not to worry Emily with the details in the aftermath. JJ, however, had apparently mentioned it in conversation with Emily three weeks after the fact, figuring she would've known and unintentionally spilling the beans.

Emily had been furious with Derek. When he called her that night for a previously arranged FaceTime call, he was greeted by a very unhappy looking Emily whose first words to him were _Why didn't you tell me?_ He knew immediately what she was talking about and sighed.

_"I didn't think it was a big deal, Em. I wasn't injured and everything turned out fine, so why worry you with the details after the matter." Derek tried to defend. "It's not like you would've come anyway."_

_He's not wrong, but it hurt Emily to hear him say it like that. "That doesn't mean I don't care," Emily says weakly, trying to hold her emotions in. "I get that we have an ocean between us and I won't always be able to come when things happen but that doesn't mean I don't want to know."_

_"What good would it have done?" Derek asks. "Really, Em, can you honestly say you wouldn't have been distracted at work had you known? Your job is demanding enough as it is, you don't need my stuff added to your plate when_ _everything turned out fine." The volume of his voice rises as he speaks, annoyed by the fact she's angry about this._

_"You don't get to decide what I can and can't handle. God, you're such a hypocrite!" Emily runs her fingers through her hair, throwing herself back on the couch. "If the tables were turned and I had been kidnapped, even if everything turned out ok, wouldn't you want to know?"_

_"That's irrelevant, you work a desk job now." He defends half-heartedly, not wanting to admit she might have a point._

_"Damn it, Derek! I can't do this if you're going to hide things from me. Your life is important to me, what happens to you is important to me, and if you can't see that then what are we doing?" With that, the screen goes blank, Emily having hung up on him._

_Derek fumes for the rest night and still isn't in a good mood when he goes into work the next day. The whole team can tell and it's JJ who finally confronts him about his sour mood when they're both getting a cup of coffee. "What's up with you today?" She asks cautiously as she stirs a dash of cream into the black liquid._

_"Oh, I don't know, maybe the huge fight I got in with my girlfriend because someone couldn't keep their mouth shut about what happened on the Davidson case." Derek fires back in reply._

_JJ raises a brow at that, not pleased with the attitude he's giving her and certainly not with the blame he seems to be throwing her way. "Excuse me for not knowing it was supposed to be a secret. Why would you not want her to know?"_

_"It's not like I was injured," Derek says exasperatedly. "She doesn't need to be worried about me."_

_"Oh, and if she was held hostage but not injured, you wouldn't still want to know?" JJ says disbelievingly._

_"She said the same thing," Derek grumbles._

_"Sounds like you realize she's right," JJ sighs before continuing. "Derek, she was nearly in tears when she found out. Both from worry and from sadness that you didn't tell her. She loves you, Derek. When you love someone, good or bad, you want to know what's going on with them."_

By the end of the day, Derek knows he needs to talk to her. Emily Prentiss rarely cried, so JJ's words about her nearly being in tears when the two had spoken tore at his heart. Emily was right, Derek did have double standards about what he would expect from her vs for himself and he was no longer angry with her, merely at himself for causing her pain.

He genuinely isn't sure where they stand, her last words to him echoing in his mind as he wonders whether she's still willing to continue with their long-distance relationship. He misses her, misses being able to hold her and desperately wants more than an hour-long uninterrupted phone call with her. Before he can even give it a second thought, Derek approaches Hotch, kindly requesting to use some of his vacation days. Hotch grants him the time off immediately, surprised he hadn't asked for any sooner. The whole team knows Derek and Emily are in a relationship but unless Emily had taken a trip stateside that none of them knew about, doubtful, the two hadn't seen each other in the three months since Derek returned from London after helping Emily move.

With profuse thanks, Derek makes his way home to quickly pack a bag before heading to the airport. Thankfully, there are several open seats on the next flight out to London which will have him arriving early the next day. He does his best to sleep on the flight, knows it would do him some good after not sleeping well the night before but he can't seem to make it happen, instead finds himself scrolling through photos of him and Emily on his phone. Most of them include members of the team as well, their time exclusively as a couple having been spent largely apart. He has a handful of just the two of them though, and even fewer that he's snapped of just her.

His favorite is a silhouette of her curled up on the window seat in her living room, looking out over her view of the Thames with the Shard just visible in the left of the background. He'd captured it on his last day in London when he'd gone to help her move, having just gotten out of the shower to find her there, sitting so peacefully. The next picture he scrolls to is one she'd begrudgingly posed for on the Westminster Bridge, Big Ben towering in the background.

"She the one you're headed to see?" He's startled by the question from the woman beside him but smiles and nods.

"My girlfriend, Emily" he informs as he internally wonders if this is the last time he'll be able to call her that.

"She's beautiful; you two must make a cute couple." The woman smiles sweetly and Derek thanks her just as the pilot's voice comes on the overhead, announcing their decent into London.

Just shy of an hour later, a taxi drops Derek off in front of Emily's building. He's lucky he befriended one of the doormen when he was helping Emily move in because he lets Derek in without much question. Derek steps off the elevator and makes his way down the hall, just about to knock on her door when it opens.

"Derek," Emily froze in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"I needed to talk to you, to apologize and I just… I wanted to do it in person." He replied nervously. She hadn't slammed the door on him so that was a start at least.

Emily dropped her briefcase and eagerly wrapped her arms around him, burying her face into his neck. "I missed you," she whispered.

"I missed you, too, princess," he smiled, holding her closer.

"How long can you stay?" Emily asked when she finally pulled away.

"Up to a week. I told Hotch I'd uh, let him know when I got here. I wasn't exactly sure you'd want to see me; wasn't sure where we stood." Derek replied, rubbing his neck.

"I'm sorry, I…"

"No," Derek interrupted. "I'm the one whose sorry. You were right, Em, I should've told you. I promise, from now on, no more secrets."

"Thank you," Emily smiled. Looking back down at her briefcase she frowned, "I still have to go to work. You said you can stay for a week?"

"If you'll have me," Derek flashed a grin.

"I can make arrangements to work from home some next week, and I'll have the weekend off. I may have to work late tonight though."

"That's alright, it'll give me time to catch up on some sleep."

"Ok," Emily smiled. "There's a spare key in the drawer to the left of the stove if you go out. I'll check in later when I have a better idea of when I'll be home."

"Sounds good. Go save the world, princess. I love you."

"I love you, too," she said, leaning in for a kiss. It was meant to be quick; she's already going to be late, but she hasn't seen him in 3 months, hasn't _kissed him_ in 3 months. Deepening the kiss, their tongues dueled in a familiar dance until they were forced to part for air. "I have to go," Emily sighed.

"Nobody's stopping you," Derek smirked.

Emily laughed and playfully shoved him back, picking up her briefcase and sliding around him. "I'll see you tonight," she said, before pecking his cheek and walking down the hall. Derek smiled and watched her go, waiting until she was in the elevator to make his way into her apartment.

**####**

True to his word, Derek did catch up on sleep, passing out on the couch and not waking up until after 4pm. Glancing at his phone, he noticed several unopened texts. The first was from JJ, checking in on how things were going, the second was from Hotch, asking for confirmation on how long he would like off, and the last was from Emily, letting him know she'd be home around 7pm.

He sent a quick reply to JJ, letting her know the trip was off to a good start and thanking her for helping him see reason. He let Hotch know he wanted to take the full week and would not be returning to DC until the following Friday. Lastly, after confirming Emily had no solidified plans for the evening, he set out for the nearest market, directions courtesy of the friendly doorman, to pick up some ingredients for dinner.

When Emily returned home that night she was instantly hit with the pleasant aroma of lemon and garlic. She found Derek at the stove and wrapped her arms around his waist, sneaking a peek around his shoulder to see what was cooking. It was his famous lemon shrimp and asparagus linguine and her mouth instantly watered.

"That smells amazing," she said, kissing the back of his neck. Derek turned the burner on low and turned in her arms, greeting her with a proper kiss. "This is nice to come home to," she smiled as they parted.

"You get me for a whole week, my flight back doesn't leave until Thursday afternoon." Emily gave him a saucy grin in reply, pulling his head down and instigating another kiss. The two stood there for several minutes, making out like teenagers. She nipped at his bottom lip, drawing a moan from him before he parted their lips and rested his forehead against hers.

"Dinner's almost ready," he breathed between them, taking deep breaths.

"What if I have an appetite for something else?" She asked, running a finger down his chest over his white tee.

"You love my shrimp though," Derek replied, chuckling lightly at the pout on her face. "I promise we'll pick this up later," he whispered into her ear before dropping a kiss to her neck.

Emily nodded, taking a breath and composing herself. She _did_ love his shrimp recipe. Though Rossi was the known cook on the team, Derek was pretty skilled himself and he had cooked for her on several occasions. "I'll pop open some wine," she said.

Emily poured them both a glass of Chardonnay while Derek dished out plates. The two had a comfortable dinner, Derek catching her up on the team. Emily smiled as he recounted Spencer's homerun in their baseball game against the secret service. About Henry dressing up as his favorite profiler for Halloween. He told her about Blake, and how he was pretty sure she and Rossi were secretly dating. Emily soaked up all the information, glad for a detailed update on the team, on her family.

Derek insisted on doing dishes afterward, instructing Emily to draw herself a bath and decompress. Fifteen minutes later, Derek walks into the master bath with a refilled glass of Chardonnay for Emily, expecting to find her already soaking but surprised to find her standing in front of the mirror. She'd shed her pantsuit, covered only by a short silk robe now, and was taking off her jewelry. She smiled when she met his eyes in the mirror and he moved towards her, setting her glass of wine on the counter before wrapping his arms around her from behind.

"I'm really glad you came," she said, leaning back against him.

"Me too," Derek replied, dropping a kiss to the top of his head. "We're ok, right?"

Emily turned in arms and nodded. "We'll always be ok, Derek."

He smiled and pulled her closer against him, lowering his head before their lips met in a passionate kiss. Derek crouched slightly, gripping behind her thighs and lifting her onto the counter. Derek reached for the knot on her robe, easily undoing it and pulling it open as Emily worked frantically at his belt and zipper, pushing down his pants.

Their lips parted and his mouth moved to one of her breasts, eagerly tracing his tongue around her nipple. As he concentrated on her breasts, Emily slipped a hand into his boxers, wrapping her fingers around his arousal. He groaned and dropped his forehead to her chest as she teased his tip with her thumb. Pulling back, he took in the sight of her, flushed, before leaning in for another kiss.

He dropped one hand to her thigh, slowly creeping his fingers up and in towards her center before finally dipping between her legs. Emily gasped softly as he flicked her clit lightly, dipping a finger into her wet heat before bringing it back up and working her in tight circles.

"Mm, Derek, I need you," she moaned as he added more pressure to his movements. Her ministrations of his hard length had slowed, distracted by the pleasure he was giving her but she managed to push his boxers down before sliding to the edge of the counter. Derek slid inside slowly, their eyes locking when he was fully seated inside her.

"God, I missed you," he moaned as he withdrew and sunk in again.

"Missed you, too," Emily gasped, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her head in his shoulder as Derek started a steady pace. She pulled back after a minute, just enough to brush her lips against his. He deepened the kiss only to have her break away on a gasp a moment later when he moved his fingers against her clit. It didn't take long for Emily to reach her peak, Derek following behind her a few slow, deep thrusts later.

She smiled and kissed him softly, holding him against her affectionately as they both came down from their high. Finally having calmed her breathing, Emily smirked as she glanced to the tub behind them. "What do you say to joining me for that soak you mentioned?" She asked as she slid her hands under the t-shirt he'd managed to keep on during their activities, pushing it up his chest.

"I thought you'd never ask," he grinned.


End file.
